From Polish language and art student in Munich to ornithologist in Australia. Gracius Broinowski was a "wanderer between the worlds" in more than one respect. Broinowski was born on 7 March 1837 in the village of Walichnovy - today in the Lódz Voivodeship in the centre of the Polish state, at that time almost within sight of the border between Prussian Silesia and the Russian Tsarist Empire. His father was a landowner and officer in the tsarist army.
Broiowski studied art and languages at the (then Royal Bavarian) University of Munich, where he was trained as a painter. But then, at the age of 20, he signed on to Australia on a windjammer and entered his new home in the port of Portland, Victoria. At first Broinowski struggled through with various odd jobs, working for a publisher in Melbourne, among others, and kept his head above water by selling his paintings. In 1863, he married the daughter of a whaler captain (a respected profession at the time) and settled in Sydney from 1880, where he taught painting, lectured on art and organised exhibitions of his paintings. In 1886, the Polish-born captain took on Australian citizenship.
In the meantime he had developed his love for the Australian nature and especially for the birdlife. Within ten years he published three groundbreaking books with his own illustrations: "The birds and mammals of Australia", "The Kockatoos and Nestors of Australia and New Zealand" and finally in 1891 "The Birds of Australia". This work alone comprised six editions with a total of 700 descriptions of Australian bird species, garnished with over 300 chromolithographic drawings - at the time the most modern method of producing the most colourful prints possible in large numbers. For the first time, scholarly works on birdlife were offered at an affordable price, making them accessible to a wider public. Therefore, preserved original editions are considered extremely valuable today. The publishing house named after Broinowski (which still exists today) in Perth (Western Australia) published a limited edition of 850 reprints in 1987.
Gracius Joseph Broinowski died at the age of 76 in Mosman, a suburb of Sydney. His son Leopold made a name for himself as a journalist and politician on the island of Tasmania.
From Polish language and art student in Munich to ornithologist in Australia. Gracius Broinowski was a "wanderer between the worlds" in more than one respect. Broinowski was born on 7 March 1837 in the village of Walichnovy - today in the Lódz Voivodeship in the centre of the Polish state, at that time almost within sight of the border between Prussian Silesia and the Russian Tsarist Empire. His father was a landowner and officer in the tsarist army.
Broiowski studied art and languages at the (then Royal Bavarian) University of Munich, where he was trained as a painter. But then, at the age of 20, he signed on to Australia on a windjammer and entered his new home in the port of Portland, Victoria. At first Broinowski struggled through with various odd jobs, working for a publisher in Melbourne, among others, and kept his head above water by selling his paintings. In 1863, he married the daughter of a whaler captain (a respected profession at the time) and settled in Sydney from 1880, where he taught painting, lectured on art and organised exhibitions of his paintings. In 1886, the Polish-born captain took on Australian citizenship.
In the meantime he had developed his love for the Australian nature and especially for the birdlife. Within ten years he published three groundbreaking books with his own illustrations: "The birds and mammals of Australia", "The Kockatoos and Nestors of Australia and New Zealand" and finally in 1891 "The Birds of Australia". This work alone comprised six editions with a total of 700 descriptions of Australian bird species, garnished with over 300 chromolithographic drawings - at the time the most modern method of producing the most colourful prints possible in large numbers. For the first time, scholarly works on birdlife were offered at an affordable price, making them accessible to a wider public. Therefore, preserved original editions are considered extremely valuable today. The publishing house named after Broinowski (which still exists today) in Perth (Western Australia) published a limited edition of 850 reprints in 1987.
Gracius Joseph Broinowski died at the age of 76 in Mosman, a suburb of Sydney. His son Leopold made a name for himself as a journalist and politician on the island of Tasmania.
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